


Three First Dates with Tendou Satori

by saturhn



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Iwaizumi Hajime is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Paris (City), Tendou Satori is a Little Shit, Timeskip Iwaizumi Hajime, but like they pretend to be engaged, they curse a lot lol, timeskip tendou satori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturhn/pseuds/saturhn
Summary: In which Iwaizumi travels to France for a vacation, and gets more than what he bargained for.(Valentendou week Day 2: First Date/Dates, First Kiss)
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Tendou Satori, Oikawa Tooru/Ushijima Wakatoshi (implied)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54
Collections: Valentendou Week





	Three First Dates with Tendou Satori

**Author's Note:**

> I’d like to thank my sister and [lilleeboi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilleeboi/pseuds/lilleeboi) for encouraging me to finish this fic and for beta reading! Literally, this wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for them ^~^

**I.**

Hajime’s vacation, by far, has _not_ been going smoothly.

It’s only been three days – two and a half, to be exact, and yet, it already feels like the world has turned its back on him. Or rather, France has. In that span, Hajime got scammed by a cheap hotel he booked (he should have listened to Tooru when he said to book a different one), dropped his phone in the pavement and cracked its screen after bumping into a rather rude tourist, forgot to bring his umbrella the day it decided to rain, got pick-pocketed and lost his wallet, and by the time his card gets denied for probably the ninth time and embarrassingly causing a line behind him, he finds himself desperately looking up to the sky, thinking, _this couldn’t get any worse, right?_

And of course, _of fucking course,_ it was of Hajime’s utmost stupidity to test fate. Because today – _today, he took the wrong train._

Which is, by far, really bland compared to the past occurrences. But one event will always follow another, Hajime knows, as he has listed down possibilities after possibilities that could happen while in a vacation, but he just doesn’t know if it’s going to be good or bad. And for the name of all that is holy, he wishes it to be good this time.

“Uhm, excuse me, sir?” Hajime says in English, his accent heavy on his tongue, as he types on his cracked screen to translate what he’s about to say. The strangers’ back is facing him, he has a cap on and a hoodie that looks quite big on him, and Hajime can’t help but hope, _wish,_ he didn’t accidentally catch the attention of a thug.

The man turns around, making his build no longer block the sunlight behind them, causing it to glare at Hajime’s eyes. Squinting and facing downwards, he holds out his phone for it to talk for him.

“No need for a translator, Hajime-kun~.” Hajime’s head snaps upward in an instant from the mention of his name, and the sultry and somewhat familiar voice overcomes his hearing. Right in front of him are two red irises shining like rubies against the morning light, an all too familiar bush of red hair peeking through the seams of his cap, and that unnerving grin that seems to be permanently plastered on his face.

“Small world, huh?”

_Tendou Satori._ Of course. Hajime doesn’t know if he should feel relieved or what. At this point, he just wants to impulsively buy a ticket to a flight back to Japan and go home, while laughing at the whole duration of it.

“Tendou-san,” Hajime curtly greets, nodding slightly in recognition, “Please answer the question.”

But well, it’s Tendou he’s talking to, of course he won’t answer that question without adding unnecessary comments. “I haven’t seen a face from home in—like, forever! And ooh~ Hajime-kun! You’ve grown taller too!”

“Iwaizumi.”

“And I guess, you’re still short tempered as ever,” Tendou teases.

“And you’re bald, but still annoying.”

Tendou grins. “Iwa-chan—”

And it takes Hajime’s last bit of sanity to not wring Tendou’s neck and get arrested in a foreign country. Taking in a sharp inhale, he screws his eyes shut and massages his temples. “Look, Tendou. I’m having a horrible day, okay? Wait, no, I’m actually having a horrible vacation. So, if you could _please_ show me the way without being an unnerving _jerk,_ that would be fucking swell.”

Seconds of silence pass as Hajime feels the burn from his outburst cool down into guilt. Slowly, he opens his eyes, assuming Tendou already left, but instead, he sees him, looking at Hajime with a tender gaze; eyes half-lidded, eyebrows relaxed, and his bottom lip jutting out slightly. It catches him off guard, for he never once did see Tendou look at anyone (beside his friends) like _that._

_“_ What.” Hajime furrows his brows.

Tendou smiles, different, with no traces of mockery found, before giving Hajime a pat on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about your vacation-gone-wrong—but it’s still not over, right?”

Hajime chooses to stay silent. He can’t help but feel suspicious of the man’s sudden tenderness.

“You’re in the best part of town, Hajime!” Tendou cheers, lifting both his arms in emphasis, causing a few judgmental looks to be sent by them, but the red-head doesn’t seem to mind. “This is where the ‘best’ pastry shop in Paris is located! Let’s stop by there now before I send you to your hotel!”

“And why?” Hajime raises a brow.

“Well, I heard it’s giving away free tastes on their newly designed wedding cake! And it looks like you need it too! Maybe it’ll turn your vacation around!”

With that, Hajime feels the last remaining anger in his body fizzle into smoke. He stares at Tendou, whose upper body is leaning a little closer to Hajime, eyes shining in excitement. Not knowing what to say, he opens his mouth, trying to get some words out, only to fail, so he closes it again. He’s confused, and a little lost.

Tendou leans back, before letting out a breathy laugh. “What? Why’re you giving me that look?” he grabs Hajime’s arm and starts pulling him. “I may be an _unnerving jerk,_ but I’m not an asshole!”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Nopey-nope!”

And that’s how Hajime finds himself sitting in a chair across from Tendou, a slice of _free_ cake in front of him, and a golden _engagement_ ring in around his finger. Somehow, amidst his suspicion on Tendou’s sudden change of character and his unusual offer of free food, the word “wedding” in “free wedding cake” completely flew right above his head.

Before stepping inside the store, Tendou handed him the ring, slipped it on his finger with an unapologetic smile and of course – of _course_ his kindness has a catch. He, now, has to act as his fiancé. For free cake.

Unbelievable.

And to top it all off, Tendou had the absolute nerve to grin at Hajime, wiggle his long fingers in front of him (with the similar engagement ring he currently is wearing taunting him) and said, “You can hold my hand and act all lovey-dovey if it’ll help!”

Despite his refusal, he still ended up walking in the store, holding Tendou’s hand, because it makes it look _real._

Again, unbelievable.

“’Ah,’ mon amour, say ‘aah~’” Tendou coos, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face as he tenderly breaks off a piece from his chocolate _wedding_ cake with his fork and moves it just in front of Hajime’s lips. It doesn’t take Hajime long to realize _mon amour_ means _my love_ in French. And at this point, he can’t find it in him to waste his remaining energy and complain. He’s been defeated, torn down, by this damn free wedding cake, the engagement ring around his finger, and Tendou Satori.

But eating cake from Tendou’s fork? No way.

Hajime recoils his neck, turning his head a bit to the side in distaste. With a scowl, he hisses, “What the fuck are you doing, Tendou?!”

And as if he just didn’t look like the sun wrapped in skin a while ago, his smile morphs into a more threatening one, with gritted teeth and wider eyes, head tilting to the side. With a little more aggression, Tendou pushes the fork closer to him. “Eat the damn cake, Hajime.”  
  


Terrified, Hajime finds himself taking a bite. And holy shit, the moment he does, Tendou just _beams,_ so bright, it has Hajime staring. It’s as if he wasn’t just about to stab his throat with a plastic fork.

A voice from behind him startles Hajime from his trance. “May I ask how the cake is, sir?”

Oh. Tendou must have seen her approaching.

“Oh, delicious, darling!” Tendou answers in straight English, leaning on his elbow against the table and winking at the waitress. Hajime rolls his eyes at the red-head’s foolish flirting, and grabs his glass of water to take a drink. “Courtesy to the pastry chef! I’ll totally consider ordering cake here for our wedding!”

The waitress thanks them, before excusing herself with Tendou waving goodbye. When she’s out of sight, Tendou quickly leans towards Hajime, hands gripping either side of their table. With eyes squinted and lips turned downwards in a scowl, he whispers, “I’m about to outdo this fucker’s pastry shop.”

And with that, Hajime feels his airways open as he chokes on his water, a blush finding its way to powder his skin. He slams the side of his fist to his chest, eyes tearing up, as he tries to release the discomfort his throat is feeling. Tendou eyes him worriedly, almost reaching out to help, until Hajime raises his hand to stop him.

“I’m okay,” Hajime corrects himself, croaking as his chest heaves trying intake as much air as he could after not being able to breathe properly. “W-What?”

Tendou grins wickedly, before pushing himself back to lean on his chair, arms behind him. “Oh, you know I’m an aspiring chocolatier, right? I’m sure Wakatoshi-kun mentioned it—”

“He didn’t—not to me, at least.”

“Neither did Tooru-kun?” Hajime shakes his head, which Tendou responds with a pout. “Ouchie. Anyways, I’m planning to open a pastry shop here too! I mean, not here but like—you know, in Paris. And what better way to beat your rival than to get a head start! I got to taste their goodies! For free!”

Hajime blinks, processing Tendou’s spoken hidden motive in this whole fiasco. After a few seconds of just staring at the red-head, Hajime lets out a laugh, loud, and it rumbles his chest in intensity, which startles both him and Tendou, but he can’t seem to stop because _Jesus Christ,_ Tendou is so childish.

He lets out a few more giggles, before he deadpans, “Rival.”

Tendou nods warily, staring at Hajime. “You’re too petty.” Hajime snorts, taking a bite from his own cake, before adding, “And ambitious. Keep that up.”

“First of all, you wound me, mon amour! Petty, really?!” Tendou cries dramatically, but the smile on his face betrays him. “Just watch! This shop will soon beg for the mercy of Tendou Satori!”

Tendou adds, “And as my partner-in-crime, you have to taste my chocolates and give an unbiased opinion!”

Hajime can only laugh at their situation. The humor in all of it already died, but Hajime still finds himself wanting to laugh, and smile, and _just_. He feels lighter. Tendou’s right, this really helped, in some way.

It’s in the middle of their laughter when Tendou grabs the napkin beside his plate, reaching out towards Hajime, and unexpectedly, wipes at the corner of his lip. And Hajime freezes, Tendou freezes – the whole world freezes in time, with Hajime staring at Tendou’s unmoving hand, trying to take in what just happened.

Gradually, he feels his chest warm, spreading across his skin, dusting it with a delicate blush. The corner of his lip tingles from where Tendou just touched it, his mind blank as he lets out a harsh whisper, “What the fuck.”

Tendou looks shocked, comically pale as a subtle blush rises on his cheeks. But after a second of silence, he masks it with a smirk. “There was chocolate on your lip.”

And Hajime, for the love of God, _squeaks_ when he says, “You could have just told me.”

“Yeah, well, you were too busy laughing,” Tendou grins, but he turns his head to the side to avoid Hajime’s gaze, his finger tapping against the surface of the table. That action is enough for Hajime to know that the other is, thankfully, embarrassed too and this is all just a façade.

He finds his lips stretching into another smile, his cheeks still warm as he snorts. “Well, thanks I guess.”

“For the napkin?”

“That, and for dragging me to your ‘evil baker scheme.’”

“It’s chocolatier! Not baker!”

-

Hajime, through his phone call conversation with Tooru and Wakatoshi, admittedly states that he, in fact, enjoyed Tendou’s company. However, from Tooru’s reaction, he _wishes_ he didn’t. He thanks himself, however, for sparing the details.

And by details, he means that freaking napkin incident.

“Iwa-chan—” Tooru gets cut off by his own wheezing, his laughter cracking from the speakers of his phone, a little static-y, but enough for him to reconsider calling his friend. “I can’t—I can’t believe you got engaged on your first date with Tendou!”

He adds, “I thought I was crazy freak-ay for having sex on the first date!”

Hajime rolls his eyes, before grumbling. “I just told you about my horrible vacation too, and you chose to comment on Tendou Satori?” Hajime yells, “—Oh, and it was _not_ a date, and I’m not engaged!”

Tooru laughs more, and Hajime almost wishes he choked on something. Breathlessly, Tooru asks, “So, where’s the engagement ring?”

Similar to a light bulb turning on, Hajime realizes he’s _still_ wearing the ring. Oh man, is it real? It looks real. Hajime ponders, maybe he should return it – but a part of him, the prideful Hajime, doesn’t want to, especially after his departure with Tendou. The red-head gave him his number, offering to be Hajime’s “savior” in his badly-going vacation, and _thanked_ him for a successful _first date._

And of course, Hajime answered with classic sarcasm. “You wish.”

Tendou is a cocky bastard, for sure, and Hajime want to do all he can to get in this guy’s nerves as revenge. But—then again, that same cocky bastard did ride the train with him, kept him company and talked about the most random things about France (which Hajime, surprisingly, found interest in and actually _listened)_ and send him back to his hotel. To top it all off, he had _fun._

So, maybe, _maybe,_ he isn’t that bad.

Hajime frowns. But then again, he still is. And returning the ring and meeting up with him means having to deal with Tendou’s smug, triumphant face.

“On my finger,” Hajime mumbles in embarrassment.

“No fucking way!” Tooru wheezes, and from across the line, Hajime can hear someone mumbling.

“Who’s that? With you?”

“It’s—It’s Waka-chan,” Tooru struggles to say, bouts of laughter still spilling from his lips, “He wants to tell you to—to take care of his best friend! Marriage is very important to Satori, apparently!”

Hajime groans, starting to regret the time when he purposely set these two up. Now, the universe is giving its payback by creating such an annoying couple that’s closely acquainted to him. “Ushiwaka, I have no plans on marrying Tendou.”

A little louder this time, Wakatoshi speaks up, voice neutral as ever. And despite the words Wakatoshi picked, he _knows_ the other is too much of an angel to actually tease Hajime relentlessly – but still, it makes him want to bang his head repeatedly against his wooden table when he asks with the most innocent voice ever, “Are you planning on courting him, though?”

“You know what? I’m not strong enough for this. I’m meeting up with Tendou tomorrow and returning this goddamn ring.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just your excuse to see Sato—”

“Good bye, Oikawa.”

After hanging up, Hajime ponders for a moment. Maybe Tendou really needs his ring back, right? It looks real—it must be, so it might have some significant value. Calling him isn’t, and won’t be, an excuse just to see Tendou.

Right?

**II.**

Wrong.

It’s by the time the sun decides to rest and descend slowly into the horizon, when Hajime realizes this is, indeed, a stupid idea – and maybe an excuse to see Tendou again (as much as he won’t admit it openly). He woke up to learn that the engagement ring is, apparently, fake, since it’s just started to tarnish. But still, despite knowing the fact that Tendou didn’t spend a lot on the ring, he still pushed through to return it.

In conclusion, Hajime feels equally pathetic and stupid.

“You have such good manners, Hajime-kun,” Tendou teases as he approaches him, hands buried in his coat’s pockets, a scarf around his neck. His cheeks and the tip of his nose tinted a subtle red. “Returning something that isn’t yours!”

Once he’s just in front of Hajime, he stops and smiles, before peeking at Hajime’s opened palm. Tendou snorts, his hand covering his mouth in mockery as he snickers. “Jesus fuck, Hajime! what are you, a saint?!”

Tendou’s full on laughing now. “The ring’s tarnished and rusted—it’s not even gold by now, why do you still want to return it to me?”

Hajime feels embarrassment crawl at his nape and into the skin of his cheeks. He grits his teeth before curling his hand into a fist just below Tendou’s chin, so tight that the ring inside feels painful, protruding on his fingers. “Listen, Tendou, I travelled for an _hour_ beside a college dude who won’t stop snoring and drooling. You will either take this piece of metal or I’ll shove it up your ass.”

_That_ actually did not happen. But he needs to give Tendou an actual reason why returning the ring is such a sacred duty done by Hajime, and it’s not— _definitely_ not an excuse to see him again. Damn you Tooru.

“Ohoho,” Tendou chuckles, bringing both his hands up in surrender, backing away slowly. “No need to get so riled up, mon amour—” _Okay,_ apparently, he’s still not done with that nickname. “—and I didn’t know you’d want to shove _it_ up my ass~”

As Tendou gets reduced into a pile of laughter and chortles, Hajime wants to just to laugh at himself, maybe cry too, because this is _not_ worth it. He doesn’t deserve this, really. “I swear one more annoying—you know what?” Hajime grits out. “I hate you.”

Tendou grins in response, before reaching out to touch Hajime’s forehead.

And he _massages it._

“Please, the entirety of Japan knows how much you and your team despised me. So, now-now, relax, Hajime! Or you’ll get more angry lines!” He coos, face just a few centimeters away from Hajime, a mocking pout in place as his eyes squint at him. Hajime quickly retracts, removing his head from Tendou’s reach as his heart beats loudly against his ear drums, and his cheeks warm.

“Anyway, c’mon! Since you spent an hour beside a drooly dude-y, let’s make this worth it, yeah? Let me show you around.”

Before he could refuse, Tendou grabs his arm, like the first time they reunited, and starts dragging him around. “Where do we start? Oh-oh! Let’s have dinner first! I mean, it’s too early, but there’s a really good Japanese restaurant close –and they taste so similar to those from home! And I know you probably feel homesick now so…”

Hajime tunes out Tendou’s talking as he finds himself wondering. As far as he knows, Tendou lived here for three? Four? Years. Why is he spending his time with an old high school volleyball rival – they’re not even friends; they’re far from it, actually, and yet despite of Hajime’s refusal in his advancements, he’s still willing to use his time to do this for him.

“—Hajime?”

Hajime blinks, meeting Tendou’s questioning yet anticipating gaze as his vision clears. “H-huh?”

His grin still in place, Tendou repeats, “I asked if you wanted to save the Eiffel Tower for last.”

“Tendou—why are you doing this?”

The other stops walking, his grip on Hajime’s arm loosening, and it takes everything in Hajime not to feel disappointed by the loss of contact. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

“This—why are you doing this?”

“OH—you mean showing you around, trying to give you a good time?”

Hajime nods. And he is only able to _watch_ what happens next. He watches the way the sun finally finishes setting from behind, leaving behind splotches of orange and red, painting themselves beautifully on Tendou’s skin. He watches the way Tendou’s expression softens into a tender gaze. He watches the way his grin melts into a gentle smile. He watches as Tendou’s breaths turn into smoke as he replies,

“Because I like it when you’re happy, Hajime. Like the time in the pastry store.”

“Oh.”

Tendou only smiles wider.

-

“Wow,” Hajime breaths out as he runs towards the edge of the railing. He’s been in Paris for five days, seen tourist’s attraction from left and right, but nothing – _nothing_ can compare to this sight; at least, in Hajime’s opinion. Gripping tightly on the railing, he leans a little more forward, trying to take in the city lights flickering from below, mirroring the twinkling constellations decorating the sky. The breeze kissing his skin feels soothing on his warm skin. He feels himself smile.

In his peripherals, he sees Tendou lean at the railing beside him, silent, yet observing him. Hajime doesn’t seem to mind the attention. “You look nice, Hajime.”

He turns his head. “Huh?”

“You’re having fun, huh? This is fun!”

Hajime is silent for a second, taking another look at the view below him before facing Tendou again. “I guess. Paris is really pretty at night.”

Tendou grins, sliding closer to Hajime. His back now leaning on the railing and his elbows helping to support his upper body. He seems unafraid of the possibility of falling. He turns his head at Hajime’s direction. “Don’t be shy, Hajime! Admit it! You’re happy—I know, because this is exactly what you look like when you break through my blocks with your spikes—which is a rare occurrence, by the way.”

Hajime feels his chest cave in as he huffs out a laugh. “Oh, really?” He tests Tendou, leaning just half an inch closer.

“Yep! Except this time, it looks—I don’t know, you look more transparent, less angry. More relaxed.” Tendou says, thoughtlessly muttering as he looks away. “I’ve always liked blocking your spikes, until I found out I like the look on your face when you score more—”

Hajime feels his heart jump to his throat.

Tendou faces him, a smile on his face. “—but this one. Right now. Hajime, it’s a sight for sore eyes.”

Throwing his head back, Tendou lets out an exasperated laugh. “I really really fucking like you, Hajime. Ever since, like, high school.”

He doesn’t know what comes over him, or why he gravitates towards this course of action—but what he knows is that the world stops. Right there. And everything disappears; the people, the chattering, the howling winds—it’s just him, Tendou, and Paris.

One hand cupping on Tendou’s cheek and the other on the railing beside Tendou’s elbows, Hajime leans in. And he’s so _so_ close, he can drink in the sight of Tendou. He’s smiling at him, tender and soft, and Hajime notices how much has changed from the other. He looks healthier – his skin has a particular glow now, painted with tanned freckles. His hair is shorter, no longer stealing the attention from his features and Hajime can see the small scar just above his eyebrow and the way his eyelashes flutter on his cheekbones. It makes his heart _ache._

_He’s beautiful._

He leans closer, and this time, Tendou does it as well. And just like that, the world starts moving – but this time, in a motion so fast, Hajime doesn’t notice his hand slipping from the railing, causing his upper body to slump towards Tendou, who doesn’t have much support, himself. He hears Tendou let out a yell, as his elbows gave out and his arms hung from behind the railing. Tendous’s upper body bends backwards against the railing from Hajime’s weight, his feet lifting off the ground—and if it wasn’t for his other hand flying to hold Tendou’s back, he would have _fallen._

“Fuck!” Hajime curses, pulling away from Tendou. In normal circumstances, he would have felt so _incredibly_ embarrassed, but Tendou almost fell, _they_ almost fell. The adrenaline pumping in his veins makes everything else irrelevant. “Fuck, are you okay, Tendou?”

He pulls Tendou away from the railing, legs still a little shaky from shock. With wide eyes, Tendou stares emptily at Hajime, mouth pulled into a frown. He’s silent, for a moment, and it’s long enough for Hajime to panic that he, maybe, made Tendou’s soul leave his body and what remains of him is a shell of a man.

“Tendou? I’m so sorr—”

“If I did fall from that,” Tendou breaths out, eyes still wide and body still unmoving.

“Tendou?”

This time, he’s actually looking at Hajime, not just staring blankly in shock, and it makes him sigh in relief.

“If I did fall from that,” Tendou repeats, bit louder this time, “I guess I could say _I fell_ off the _Eiffel_ Tower!”

Hajime’s mind uncharacteristically malfunctions as he gapes at Tendou. This man, this unbelievably annoying, irritatingly idiotic man—who almost fell off a high tower, may he add – just made a joke. Of his own possible death.

Laughing in distress, He feels his knees buckles as he runs his hand through his hair in disbelief. _And he almost kissed this son of a bitch._

“No?” Tendou hums, “Okay. How about—”

_He is so fucking insufferable._

“—Hajime-kun!” He says in a high-pitched voice, his shoulders rising as he lets out a forced giggle, “I think _Eiffel_ for you!”

_And I am attracted to this goddamn idiot._

“Too early? How about in like—”

Hajime laughs, more genuine and less of in disbelief. He grabs Tendou’s arm, intertwining their fingers – and if his laughter in despair didn’t shut Tendou up, well, this, this definitely did. Tendou’s cheeks turns into a nice shade of red as his lips falls into a line, the words about to say dying in his throat. Hajime grins.

“Satori, go on a date with me.”

Tendou blinks at him, blushing, but he looks like he has no plans on moving – or let alone, answering Hajime. His silence is scary, Hajime thinks, as he feels anxiety crawl at his nape. He lets go of Tendou’s hand before burying his own in his pockets as he finds himself jumbling out words.

“I mean—fuck—it can _not_ be a date, you know—oh! Remember when you told me you want me to taste your chocolates? We—we could do that! Or not—”

“I thought this was already a date.”

His mindless, unstructured rambling is interrupted.

“It’s not?” Hajime says, unsure himself. Tendou walks closer to Hajime, leaning in, and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek. The tingle Tendou left from his kiss causes Hajime’s hand to fly out from his pocket to caress his own cheek, feeling the way it warmed.

“It felt like it, so I’m gonna believe it is.” Tendou chuckles, reaching for Hajime’s hand and this time, he’s the one to intertwine his fingers. “And sure, I’ll go on a third first date with you~”

Hajime finds himself scoffing fondly at the other’s reply.

“Now, I know I promised that the Eiffel Tower is for last, but I remember this one place I found really comforting when I first came here and—”

As Tendou rambles on, Hajime can’t help but notice the red-head’s hands are rough, but no longer as calloused as his. A mark of a former athlete, and a mark of an aspiring chocolatier. It’s perfect, the way it fits the cracks between his fingers, the way Tendou’s hands cages his. Hajime tightens his hold. And at that moment, he concludes that he doesn’t want to let go.

-

“He’s such a piece of shit, Tooru!” Hajime halfheartedly exclaims as he tries to fit his leg through the hole of his pants. The phone is squished between his ear and his shoulder, but his uncontrollable excitement for his and Tendou’s date later is making it hard for him.

After their little incident at the Eiffel tower, Tendou and him has been texting and calling non-stop. And although Hajime wanted this date to happen earlier, Tendou had some errands to run, so they settled for today, which is two days after that night.

Tooru snorts from across the line. “And you find yourself actually liking the dude.”

“Unfortunately.” Hajime laughs, placing his phone at his other shoulder when he feels his neck already cramping, before tying his shoes. “He’s charming. A charming piece of shit. And really fucking pretty.”

“Good. Because I can tell he’s making you happy.”

Hajime gags at Tooru’s sudden affection, before saying, “Don’t go soft on me, Shittykawa. I’m not getting married—this is just our first date.”

“First date? I thought that night at the Eiffel Tower is your first date?”

Shaking his head, Hajime laughs as he recalls Tendou calling the ‘aspiring chocolatier scheme’ as their first date. And that night definitely felt like their first date – they almost kissed, for God’s sake. At the Eiffel Tower. In the city of _love._

“I don’t know either, honestly. He says later will be our third first date.”

**III.**

“Welcome to mon manoir, Iwaizumi Hajime-san!” Satori announces as he opens the door dramatically. Hajime watches, almost flinching, when the door hits the wall with a loud ‘bang.’ The proud smile on Satori’s face is _endearing_ but—but Iwaizumi can’t see anything in his “mon manoir.”

“Wow, Tendou. Your house looks really… dark.” He deadpans.

Tendou looks confused for a second, before looking back at his home to see that it was, indeed, dark. “Oop, forgot I turned off the lights before leaving.” He reaches out to flip the switch, and once light illuminated his apartment, Tendou cheers with a “Ta-da!”

It’s not much, the apartment; It has a small flat screen television placed in front of a maroon couch. He has a bunch of potted plants, most of them labeled as “Wakatoshi,” probably a gift from the said friend. There’s a slight opening that leads towards the kitchen and at the corner he can see a small bin overflowing with trash.

“Make yourself at home, mon amour,” Tendou grins, bowing slightly with on of his arms stretched and the other folded on his chest in a faux theatre bow. The red-head leads them towards the kitchen and Hajime lets himself get settled on a small wooden chair by the table.

And he tries not to laugh, really, but are those dead roses on his table?

Tendou must have noticed his questioning gaze on the flowers, he waves it off dismissively before saying, “Someone gave them to me last week—forgot to put them in a vase, so now they’re dead.”

He watches as Tendou turns on his stove and drops a bunch of chocolates in. The way he looks stirring in his pot, the smell of chocolates and subtle gasoline in the air, the ambience of the apartment—everything, is so _domestic_ that Hajime has to bite his lip to keep himself from smiling.

“You have a nice apartment, Tendou.”

The red-head faces him, and with a smug grin he says, “Oh, I know! And you should be thankful! I don’t bring first dates in my apartment!”

After a few seconds, curiosity suddenly spikes inside Hajime as he feels himself asking. “Did you know I was on a vacation here?”

“Yeah.” Tendou stops stirring for a sec, before muttering, “Tooru-kun told me. ‘Said it was my chance.”

“What?” Hajime laughs, “So you walked around, holding a pair of _engagement rings_ hoping you’d come across me?”

The red-head drops his wooden spoon before looking accusingly at Hajime. “Excuse me!” he squints his eyes jokingly, “What brought you up to the conclusion, huh?”

“You’re dodging the question.”

Tendou blushes, before clicking his tongue. “I _did_ want to see you, but I was also planning to just ask some stranger to act as my fiancé. I needed to taste their wedding cake.”

“I’m glad it was you, though,” he adds, “I got to ask you, in like a date, in a way.”

At that, Hajime snorts, shaking his head at the red-head before pointing out honestly, “It wasn’t a date, Tendou. We can pretend it was, though. Like how we pretended our engagement.”

“Shut up!” Tendou whines, before smirking, “As if you didn’t use my tarnished ring as an excuse to ask me out!”

Then, Tendou copies his words from a while ago, “Don’t worry, Hajime. We can pretend it was, though. Like how you pretended you didn’t want to see me.”

It’s Hajime’s turn to hiss. “Shut the hell up, Satori.”

The addressed man freezes as he stares at Hajime, blinking, cheeks red.

“What?”

Satori chews on his cheeks, tearing his gaze away from Hajime. “My name sounds good on your tongue.”

Hajime, as firm as he is, finds himself _melting._ He exhales through his nose in amusement. “Well, _Satori_ , your chocolates are burning.”

Alarmed, Satori jumps, quickly reaching out to turn the stove of.

“Oh no.” Hajime almost coos at how sad Satori looks and sounds right now. The way he stares at the ground in disappointment—adorable. “I was supposed to show off my chocolate expertise to you!”

Laughing fondly, he walks towards Satori, and places both his hands at either side of the other’s waist. He smiles, staring right into Satori’s eyes. And with all the courage left in his body, he asks. “Satori, be my boyfriend.”

“What?”

His grip on Satori’s waist tightens as he feels his confidence slowly slipping away from the cracks of his ribs and onto the floor. He repeats, but this time a little shakily, “Be my boyfriend.”

The other is silent. For a second. Then another. And Another. And Hajime, in normal situations, would feel defeated. But this is Tendou Satori, he can wait. However, he can still feel his brave demeanor slowly slip through the cracks of his ribs and leave him. As he’s about to pull away, Satori’s head slumps forward, his forehead hitting Hajime’s shoulder rather hardly.

“Satori?”

“Hajime.” He feels Tendou’s breath tickle the crook of his shoulder as he laughed softly. “We pretended to be engaged for a whole day, almost fell off the Eiffel tower trying to get a kiss, and you asked me to be your boyfriend when there’s dead roses on my table and my chocolates are burnt—”

He pauses as his laughs grow louder and uncontrollable. Simultaneously, he rubs his forehead against the fabric of Hajime’s shirt, his hold around him tightening. “Romance is dead, Hajime. We killed it.”

Hajime feels himself blush. Laughing slightly, he says, “Answer the question, Satori.”

Slowly, Satori lifts his head, blushing, before cupping Hajime’s cheek and just like before, up at the Eiffel Tower, everything freezes. The world stops turning.

But this time, as Satori’s lips meets his, the planet goes back in motion, not in an alarming pace, or the opposite, but perfect and stable, like everything’s falling into the right place.

**Author's Note:**

> And you reached the end! Yay! Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated greatly :>
> 
> Here’s my [twitter](https://twitter.com/shirayachi) if you want to yell with me about haikyuu! :D


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